The 2010-11 theater season has barely started, but it’s
off to a rollicking start with a lively, inventive and polished
production of Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at
Covington’s Carnegie Center. That’s no small achievement: The
Carnegie’s Otto M. Budig Theatre is a lovingly restored venue, but it’s
not an easy place to stage a musical — shallow stage, no real orchestra
pit and limited sight lines.

But that has not troubled directors Dee Anne Bryll and Ed
Cohen or scenic designer Kristen Robinson, who used a few crates and
platforms (including one that revolves to suggest Huck and Jim’s raft
floating on the Mississippi River) and an evocative series of projected
illustrations suggesting rustic scenes along the Mississippi to advance
the story. Big River has a current that flows from start to finish.

Bryll’s way with stage movement (she’s a veteran
choreographer) and Cohen’s ability to get actors to tell stories
clearly combine perfectly with Robinson’s design to make the Carnegie’s
limitations feel like virtues. Musical accompaniment is onstage in full
view — Brian D. Hoffman, music director, at an upright piano, with a
fiddler, guitarist and bass player — all in 19th-century attire (Diane
Carr costumed the show) that identifies them as members of the
community.

As Huck, Zach Steele has youthful enthusiasm and a sly
sense of humor.

He can sing, too, whether it’s a rousing number like
“Waitin’ for the Light to Shine” or the soulful “River in the Rain.”
The latter is one of several harmonized duets with Jim, played with
urgency and a depth of feeling by Deondra Means. Their rendition of
“Muddy Water” as they launch onto the river — “Look out for me” — gives
them and the show undeniable momentum, and “Worlds Apart,” is a moving
acknowledgment of their common ground. Means’ performance of “Free at
Last” is a stirring final statement of what Jim has been pursuing.

Big River is full of comic moments and songs.
Michael Carr plays two characters with complete zest: He’s Huck’s
brutal, drunken father, singing about his disdain for the dad-gummed
“Guv’ment” and then he’s a flimflam artist, posing as the “Duke of
Bridgewater” and spouting Shakespearean gibberish intended to dazzle
the rubes into paying exorbitant prices for silly shows. The Duke’s
partner in chicanery is Max Chernin, trying to sell himself as the
deposed King of France, as the “Royal Nonesuch” (a fake carnival freak)
and finally as the heir of a deceased Englishman, with a cheesy Cockney
accent.

The role of recklessly inventive Tom Sawyer is handled
rambunctiously by Ben Durocher, who reveals Tom’s wild imagination in
“The Boys” (dreaming up escapades for his gang) and a comic flair in
“Hand for the Hog” (complete with a hand puppet). Veteran Cincinnati
actor Bill Hartnett, who has often performed in solo shows as Mark
Twain, handles the role of Big River’s patron saint with assurance and subtle sensitivity.

Big River’s female roles are less juicy, but Taryn
Bryant has two showy, stirring numbers, one as a recaptured slave (“The
Crossing”) and another as a soulful funeral soloist (“How Blest We
Are”). Samantha Toberman and Carlyn Connolly play a handful of
characters with plenty of texture and detail, and Shannon Beam has a
sweet, momentary romance with Huck, “Leavin’s Not the Only Way to Go.”

Big River has a truly American score, joyously
telling Twain’s iconic tale of freedom and personal growth. With a
strong cast (the overall ensemble is disciplined and energetic) and
clear direction, this is a production that brings out the best in a
sometimes overlooked work.

BIG RIVER, presented by Covington’s Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, continues through Sept. 4. Go here for show times and venue details.